If David Noble’s experience is any indication, Credit Suisse’s invitation-only philanthropy event for ultra high net worth clients in New York last week can only be called a resounding success.

If David Noble’s experience is any indication, Credit Suisse’s invitation-only philanthropy event for ultra high net worth clients in New York last week can only be called a resounding success.

In addition to learning more about philanthropy during the three-day “Philanthropy Campus” event Credit Suisse put on in collaboration with New York University, Noble, a retired attorney in Wooster, OH, who runs the Donald and Alice Noble Foundation, said that the program also “opened my eyes to a lot of resources that Credit Suisse has, and I look forward to calling them in the future.”

For a wealth manager hoping to forge closer ties with ultra high net worth clients, that’s about as good as it gets.

Indeed, Credit Suisse has found that events such as “Philanthropy Campus,” which debuted last fall, are in fact “very effective” ways to build relationships with existing clients and attract new ones, according to Bill Woodson, co-head of Credit Suisse Private Banking Americas.

Last year’s “Philanthropy Campus” event “confirmed our belief about how important philanthropy was to our clients,” Woodson said. “For many of them, philanthropy is the single most important thing they do during their day. They want to do it right, and they want to learn how to do it right.”

Increasing Credit Suisse’s chances

“If we can help them achieve their goals in philanthropy,” he continued, “we can also play a role in their broader financial lives and increase our chances of being a solution partner for them.”

Elaborate education events for wealthy clients, such as the Credit Suisse program and Citi Private Bank’s week-long “Next Generation” conferences, which are now held annually in New York, London and Singapore, are becoming increasingly important in a competitive market where retaining and attracting wealthy clients is harder than ever. (To view an article on Citi’s event, click here.)

At the recent Credit Suisse event, held at NYU, education panels for UHNW clients included discussions about philanthropic trends, impact investing, social media, policy advocacy, micro-financing and choosing charitable vehicles and grantees.

A session about evaluating the impact of charitable gifts moderated by Peter York, senior partner and chief research officer of the TCC Group, clearly hit a nerve with donors. Several clients expressed frustration as they asked exactly how they can measure the impact of their gifts and exactly what outcome they should measure.

“Evaluation is very difficult,” Noble said. “Sometimes you feel your money went down a black hole.”

York agreed, and said the topic had become a major issue in the philanthropy world, and remained contentious. “Donors must acknowledge that they are proxy buyers,” he said. Drawing an analogy to consumer goods, York said that instead of measuring how many products are actually sold, evaluation in philanthropy often seems more like receiving a report on how many products are on the shelf.

Both donors and recipients should spend approximately 5 per cent to 10 per cent on evaluation, York suggested, and he encouraged donors to the same charity to talk to each other about what they expect.

Networking key

In fact, socializing and networking were a key part of the Philanthropy Campus program as well. Woodson said Credit Suisse found out last year how much the attendees “valued spending time with each other,” and as a result, built more time in this year’s program for socializing and “peer exchange.”

Thirty clients attended this year’s event, he said, slightly down from last year, but a number that was optimal for social mixing. In addition to  the classroom sessions, Credit Suisse clients heard actor Alec Baldwin speak at the opening dinner Wednesday night in midtown Manhattan, and on Friday they were taken to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a tour and a private talk by one of the museum’s curators.

The investment for Credit Suisse was well worthwhile, according to Betsy Brill, president of Chicago-based Strategic Philanthropy, and a speaker at last year’s event. “The program sets the stage for engagement and continuous learning and also serves to differentiate Credit Suisse from the larger marketplace, given that very few other wealth advisory firms and banks provide such offerings,” Brill said.